Wrapping up Spring '08

My client D is a 6 year old boy diagnosed with autism since age 2. This is D’s first time at the WVU clinic. He has been receiving speech therapy at elementary school since age 5, and his parent’s felt that he needed the extra one on one time at our clinic in order to further his communication progress. I have only seen D for four sessions this semester due to illness and family traveling, but I feel as though I have already learned a lot from him.

D is a very passive and friendly child. He has no speech other than random noises and babbling. On occasion he produces a single word but completely out of context. At this point, the main goal is to enable D to communicate his basic wants and needs with those around him.

In order to elicit communication, I have been using the Picture Exchange Communication System with him. D had previously been working with PECS some at school, so he already had some experience with it and the supplies needed. He has his own book of velcro pictures from which he chooses a picture and hands it to me indicating what he wants. I then give D the item he requested (such as bubbles, rings, blocks, food, drink, etc), and he is allotted time to play with and enjoy the item. I also say the name of the item as I hand it to D and help him learn to play with and use the item correctly. D is currently in the beginning stages of the program in which few item choices are placed on a page at a single time. The main focus is on being sure that D can distinguish between the pictures to indicate his wants/needs. That is accomplished by using a more aversive item with a desired item so that D can learn what picture he needs to choose in order to get what he wants.

My supervisor recommended that I use PECS. She specializes in working with children with autism, and in addition to offering a great deal of knowledge of the program, she has found it to be very effective for other children in the past.

A study by Charlop-Christy et al. (2002) examined the acquisition and communication effects of PECS on 3 children with autism. The results of the study showed increases in verbal speech for all 3 children and overall improved communication over time.

In addition to using the PECS, I have addressed play goals with D. We sing songs and I attempt to get him to enjoy structured play with various toys.

In the short amount of time I have been with D, I feel as though he has made some progress. He already seems to be improving on discriminating between the different items. I think the one on one undistracted time in clinic is just what he needed. He has shown good potential for future sessions and will be a joy for any clinician to work with.

Reference:

Charlop-Christy, M. H., Carpenter, M., Le, L., LeBlanc, L. A., & Kellet, K. (2002). Using the picture exchange communication system (PECS) with children with autism: assessment of PECS acquisition, speech, social-communicative behavior, and problem behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 35 (3), 213-231.